Dominate the Super Bowl

On one hand, the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference are expanding more aggressively with rapidly growing revenue gaps, not only increasing their own cable channel subscriptions by leaps and bounds; but also as their influence widens, the proportion of their games broadcast nationwide visibly increases.

Without a doubt, the balance of power has shifted accordingly.

On the other hand, the University of Texas once again plays a pivotal role in changing the landscape. Dissatisfied with Texas A&M University joining the Southeastern Conference after years of being suppressed by them and flourishing financially, Texas A&M’s recruitment becomes increasingly dominant, creating a virtuous cycle.

In 2021, the University of Texas joined forces with Oklahoma to move to the Southeastern Conference.

The Big Twelve Conference, faced with dire straits.

Subsequently, traditional power teams on the West Coast couldn’t sit idle – the University of Southern California, dissatisfied with the weakness of the Pacific-12 Conference, joined the Big Ten Conference, along with the University of California, Los Angeles, the following year in 2022, thereby significantly strengthening the Big Ten, which now enjoys vast markets on both coasts.

The cost, however, was that both the Big Twelve and the Pacific-12 Conferences faced the prospect of disintegration.

The Big Twelve Conference was the first to attempt self-rescue, frantically recruiting schools, and after pulling in Arizona, Colorado, and others, barely managed to stabilize.

The Pacific-12 Conference was on shaky ground and, after the University of Washington and the University of Oregon joined the Big Ten, the once-glorious Pacific-12 was virtually non-existent.

By 2023, the Pacific-12 Conference was down to just Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley, Oregon State University, and Washington State University. They sought help far and wide but faced repeated rejections, until eventually Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley found a place in the Atlantic Coast Conference—

Oregon State and Washington State remain homeless, their futures uncertain.

The NCAA, driven by interests, entered a new era.

A century of tradition, gone up in smoke.

Take the intrastate rivalry, for instance, where the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, Berkeley, both part of the University of California system, had competed against each other for over a century, but now being in different conferences, the annual fixtures would no longer take place.

Regarding home and away games, the divisions used to be regional, so even away games weren’t far, but now the divisions disregard geographical boundaries, meaning away games could require flying from the West Coast to the East Coast, which not only affects students’ daily routines but might also prevent alumni and fans from attending away games.

Then there’s the bowl games – the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day was once a signature NCAA event; even the University of Alabama’s team fight song mentions the Rose Bowl. Since World War II, the Rose Bowl traditionally featured the Big Ten champion against the Pacific-12 champion.

Each year at the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten champion would head to sunny California, watching the game while on vacation, with visiting fans bringing along a red rose to follow their team to the game in Los Angeles.

But now, with the Pacific-12 Conference essentially dismantled, the tradition of the Rose Bowl will become history.

The wheels of history keep turning amidst a thunderous roar.

Our focus, for the moment, returns to 2016.

At that time, NCAA’s development had not yet entered a new phase, but the success of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences was evident to all, holding a unique position of authority.

The University of Alabama, as a traditional powerhouse of the Southeastern Conference, and undoubtedly the absolute monarch of the rapid growth of television broadcasting in the past nine years, reaps the benefits of this era, so it’s no wonder the president places special emphasis on the team’s broadcasting slots.

Having a warm-up match with the Crimson Tide Storm would also yield substantial television broadcasting revenue—

This game will not only be broadcast on the Southeastern Conference’s television network but will also be aired nationwide on ESPN.

Everyone was eager to become the University of Alabama’s warm-up opponent.

Saban, however, had his own considerations.

Every year, when it came time to select a warm-up opponent, he would deliberate deeply; this year was no exception, and Saban ultimately chose Clemson University.

The discussion was rampant—

The Clemson Tigers, belonging to the Atlantic Coast Conference, are also a team with a long history, established in 1896, with over a century of legacy.

However, Clemson University, located in South Carolina, is a public university and not a traditional powerhouse. Their football program didn’t rise to prominence until after the millennium, and they entered their peak era alongside Saban’s taking over at the University of Alabama, becoming the strongest teams of the past decade.

Since head coach Dabo Swinney took over in 2008, the Clemson Tigers have dominated the Atlantic Coast Conference four times.

Clemson and Alabama are well-known archrivals. The two schools, both located in the South, have a historical enmity dating back to the distant year of 1900, and in the subsequent century, they’ve faced each other time and again.

Logically, the two teams should meet only every few years, as they belong to two different conferences, but curiously, their every encounter has been explosive, either at their peaks or in their troughs, such that each clash has been a fierce battle, continuously writing history.

The collisions between the Crimson Tide Storm and the Tigers always witness large scores in NCAA history. The Tigers once won "35:0," sweeping to victory, and the Crimson Tide Storm also once humiliated their opponents with a score of "74:7." Such dramatic scorelines have led to increasingly intense rows between fans, almost to the point of a fight to the death.

In 1975, the Crimson Tide Storm crushed the Tigers "56:0." The Tigers have been seeking revenge ever since, but fate played a cruel trick—when the two teams met again, it was in 2008, marking the beginning of a new era of peak performance for both teams under Saban and Swinney.

The last encounter between the two teams came from the previous season—

The nationwide championship game.

The Crimson Tide Storm and the Tigers met in the finals, unfolding a Huashan Swordsmanship Meeting-like pinnacle showdown, with the final score "45:40." In a rollercoaster of a game, the Crimson Tide Storm got the last laugh, defeating the Tigers to be crowned the nationwide champions.

Up to this season, the Crimson Tide Storm has led in their head-to-head record with twelve wins to three losses, leaving the Tigers without any fond memories of this formidable rival. The Tigers’ last victory over the Crimson Tide goes back to the distant year of 1905, more than a century ago.

But history is history, and the present is decidedly different.

It was precisely because of last year’s spectacular nationwide championship final that when Saban announced this year’s spring training camp finale warm-up opponent would be Clemson, all media went wild.

So, straight away, they’re using strong medicine?

Before the season even begins, are the top two performers of the last season going to clash, setting the tone for the upcoming new season?

One could guess with their knees that the ratings for this match would definitely be explosive.

So, what exactly was Saban thinking?

Looking at it from another angle, what was Swinney thinking? Saban might propose, but Swinney would also need to agree, so what are the two coaches up to?

It’s still just spring training camp—Is it really okay to be this stimulating?